The skinny on Neighborhood Zones
- mcc021557
- Feb 17
- 5 min read
We are about a week away from the next meeting about the Salem St Corridor with the Community Development Board, on Wednesday, March 5th on zoom:
Please Attend. Speak up. Tell Others.
The City Council is likely to vote on the zoning on Tuesday March 11th at 7PM during their regular meeting.
While the corridor zoning is moving through the final stages, there have been four meetings about the neighborhood zones. As we listened to these meetings, a divide was definitely seen in how different neighborhoods are being treated and zoned. Over and over, Kit Collins states at these meetings that the changes are reflective of the comments from the Comprehensive Plan. That overwhelmingly the residents wanted density. So, what is the plan? Certainly, the larger lots with more on street parking and space will be made more dense and the areas that are already pretty dense and struggling under the weight will see little to no change…right?
Well, not in Medford. Over each meeting, the city council has down zoned areas with the largest lots. Residents have called in and we have seen in real time that streets in West Medford, Lawrence Estates can be down zoned with just one comment. Despite Kit Collins saying at the start of the Feb. 12th Planning and Permitting Committee meeting that this is “informed by the topology, geography, what the land allows, what the streets allow, the types of homes that are already built in the community and proximity to things that encourage greater density such as transit, places where there are many jobs concentrated together,” that is not how the zoning was actually decided. Let’s unpack with the Innes provided maps.
How big are the lots?
It appears that the largest lots can be found in West Medford, Lawrence Estates and Fulton Heights, so it would seem if density is desirable (as Kit pointed out that the people who participated in the Comprehensive Plan are clamoring for this and mostly live in those neighborhoods), then those would be the areas that we would focus on adding it. With larger lots, the impacts would be less. Those light yellow spots are 7-10k lots. The Glenwood area has 3-5k lots mostly.
But that’s not all, Kit said they also looked at proximity to transit when deciding what areas to upzone and add density to. What does that map look like?
You can clearly see a circle around a large segment of West Medford, so surely combining that with the large lots would lead to more density in that area. There appears to be no real transit near Lawrence Estates and Fulton Heights (although their large lots can certainly accommodate parking and more than single family homes per lot) and there is also no major transit near Glenwood with their very small lots by comparison to the other three areas. That will certainly be reflected in the zoning plan.
Kit also mentioned proximity to high concentration of jobs (although it doesn’t appear that they differentiate between a low or high paying job which is an important factor in being able to afford to live in a community). Let’s look at the jobs map.
The jobs map seems to show about the same job density in West Medford and parts of Fulton Heights as Glenwood and more job density in Lawrence Estates.
Kit also claimed it would be informed in some way by the types of homes that exist there now. That won’t be the only factor, it will be a combination of the other factors. The last map shows both existing housing types and proposed zoning.
What this map shows is that the Glenwood area has a healthy mix of single and two family housing. Some areas are more single than others. The Fulton Heights, Lawrence Estates and parts of West Medford are majority single family homes on larger lots.
One would expect (in a city council that heavily favors density,) that the areas with the best transit access, large lots and most space overall would be upzoned. But were they?
NO! Emphatically and absolutely NOT! Glenwood is being zoned at the highest level of neighborhood density allowed. They will allow 3 family homes on 3k lots in that area despite current density, lack of transit and small lots. This will be in addition to the corridor zoning allowing apartment buildings on 3k lots. There have been ZERO studies to see how the corridor zoning will affect the neighborhood and ZERO studies on how the combined zoning will impact the neighborhood.
Don’t be fooled when they tell you current lot coverage allowed and parking minimums will lessen the likelihood of this happening. That is untrue. Lot coverage will be expanded when they write the actual zoning behind these maps and will likely land in the 80% range that the corridor zoning landed. They are also waiting until all this new zoning passes to lower the parking minimums. That is already on the schedule for May 2025. The zoning can only happen if they will decrease or eliminate parking minimums in Glenwood. Let that sink in.
What zoning is planned for the areas with transit, large lots and more space? Some sections near West Medford Commuter rail will be zoned the same as Glenwood (without having any of those conditions that West has) and some areas in West will be zoned LESS dense than Glenwood. Both Lawrence Estates and Fulton Heights will also be zoned less densely than Glenwood. What are the differences in Neighborhood Residential (NR) zones?
NR1 will only allow for single family homes and (required by state law) ADU on lots of a minimum size of 5k square feet. NR2 will allow for single family homes and (required by state law) ADU and 2 family homes on lots of a minimum size of 4k square feet. NR3 will allow for single family homes and (required by state law) ADU, 2 family homes and 3 family homes on lots of a minimum size of 3k square feet – lots 40% smaller than just a single with ADU in NR1. Why is there such a difference in the neighborhoods? City council planning committee members have said it is to preserve the “neighborhood character” of their least dense neighborhoods – a phrase repeated often in these meetings followed by impassioned speeches. Why don’t they think our neighborhoods are worthy of maintaining “neighborhood character?” Why are they picking sacrificial neighborhoods?
At the last neighborhood meeting on Feb. 12th, they discussed possibly down zoning the area in the Tufts neighborhood most proximal to the Green line stop to preserve their character. That would mean that Glenwood is zoned at the same level as a neighborhood in walking distance to the Green line. Is that fair? Is that equitable? What is motivating them to go after Glenwood so aggressively? What is their end goal? Why is density so bad that it can’t be added at all in some areas, but when those most impacted speak out they are dismissed as NIMBY and said to be spreading misinformation? Are they saying those with the largest lots can’t even have a two-family home near them? That it would destroy their neighborhood?
The proof is in the zoning. They are clearly targeting environmental justice neighborhoods with the least resources for the most density and protecting the less dense more affluent areas of the city from any density. The consultants have warned that this zoning is looking to the future for the next twenty to thirty years and encouraged them to zone those areas higher. They can say this isn’t political all they want, but this is impacting people’s quality of life. If density is good, then why not put it where it will have the least impact? In places with more resources and larger lots? Otherwise, their entire narrative falls apart and reveals the truth. Speak out before it is too late!
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